Our Directors

Jeff Chariker Concert Band Director

Jeff Chariker is currently the Creative Arts Pastor at Faith Bible Church in Glendale, AZ. He has held this position for 19 years and served as the primary worship leader for 17 of those years. He now oversees the worship arts ministry and all areas of communication for the church. Jeff received his B.S. degree in Music Education from Grand Canyon University in 1990 where he sat principal horn in the Wind Ensemble for four years and was a tenor section leader in the university’s choral groups. Following graduation, he taught choral and instrumental music in the public school system. In addition, Jeff spent 6 years as a professional musician in the Valley gigging as an accompanist for all-state choral events and local high school groups, maintained a private piano studio, served as a choral and instrumental clinician and co-wrote/performed an original show funded by the Arizona Commission on the Arts. He has also been invited as a tenor soloist for orchestrated classical masterworks as well as been the lead singer of a rock and roll cover band. He is comfortable playing/singing Chopin to Coltrane to Chicago. Jeff lives in Peoria with his wife Samantha (also a music educator). They have twin sons who are 20 years old and are currently attending Grand Canyon University. Jeff is an avid woodworker in his free time and generally loves to create using his hands.

Liz Carnes-Wight Jazz Band Director

Liz Carnes-Wight taught instrumental music in the Peoria Unified School District for 25 years. Retired from the district, she remains busy performing in the Arizona Wind Symphony, the Desert Foothills New Horizons Band, and the Coast to Coast Woodwind Quintet. Currently she is teaching band at Jefferson Preparatory High School in Glendale. She has degrees in Oboe Performance and Music Education from Idaho State University and Grand Canyon University., and a Masters in Education from NAU. Liz has studied oboe with H. James Schoepflin, Bernard Shapiro, and Nancy Clauter. She also plays tenor saxophone and has performed with a variety of big bands in the valley. Liz resides in Peoria with her husband George. Together they have 8 children, 13 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren. She has also been an active member of Arizona Music Educators Association and teaches private lessons in her home.